The making of edible bread containers have been in existence for a very long time. People have wrapped all sorts of foodstuffs in pliable flatbreads for centuries. As well small loaves have been sliced open or hollowed out in order to be filled with a variety of foodstuffs. These breads in effect serve to transport and contain food.
All of the above attempts have serious disadvantages. In the case of the wraps made out of flatbreads, it takes a minimum of 3 folds to achieve a tube like structure capable of containing food. However these folds still represent open seams where leakage is always a possibility. Also, certain areas in particular the bottom the wrap is several layers thick, resulting in mouthfuls of bread without any filling. Furthermore, as the bread is being eaten, the structural integrity of the tube is compromised and the contained food substances often end up in places other than the mouth.Simply slicing a loaf of bread requires at least 3 surfaces to be cut before the bread can be opened. These are open seams for food to fall out. Consider also that since there is no cavity for the filling, the gap between the sliced bread is even wider. As well, the interior of the bread is more soft and absorbent so it provides less moisture resistance. Hollowing out the loaf may alleviate some of the aforementioned problems but it will require time, skill and a very good idea of what to do with the scrap bread.
Most edible containers being produced requires that the dough be made into flat sheets which are then cut into predetermined shapes prior to having them cooked on some supporting framework or molds. These techniques are successful in producing relatively stiff and brittle containers (ice cream cones, tacos, etc.) bearing little resemblance to bread.
Furthermore, loaf breads are made generally made by baking leavened dough on a bread pan that may or may not have walls but definitely it will have an open top. The exposed part of the dough during baking allows not only for the moisture and other gasses to escape but also for the formation of the characteristics (caramelization, color, crunchiness, etc.) of the particular crust as determined by the dough recipe. Lastly the dough is free from any compression forces preventing the loaf to rise and expand.
There are some patents that propose the use of bread dough for producing edible containers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,935 describes an apparatus and method to produce oval boat-shaped buns with a central depression designed specifically for an open faced sandwich.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,964 uses a female form and a male form that are locked together during the cooking process with a vent port on either of the male or female form. A vent was placed at the apex of the male form to allow for the release of gases and excess dough but this vent is inadequate for gas release. It may in fact create a defect in the eventual cone at the worst possible location, its bottom. Another problem the vent poses is that during compression to coax the dough into the cone shaped cavity, the dough will more likely escape through this vent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,511 describes a technique using two male molds, a forming one and a cooking one in conjunction with a female mold. The dough is first, partially cooked with the female and the male forming molds together. At this point the source of heat is from the female mold only. The male forming mold is then replaced by a heated male cooking mold and the rest of the cooking of the resultant cone is completed with both forms in place. Again this method like the previously described one fails to prevent compression of the bread during cooking and also fails to provide adequate venting of moisture.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,895,940 uses one female form and two male forms (namely, a heated mandrel and a baking insert). The method involves inserting the heated mandrel into the female form holding the dough bolus, to partially cook and to partially form the cone shape. The partially cooked dough is to retain enough of a self-supporting shape to allow the heated mandrel to be removed and replaced by the baking insert, as shown in their FIG. 6. In this case, the guide pins with the wing nuts serve to centre the baking insert relative to the female form as well as to hold the insert off the female form to create the space for the dough to expand and for vapors to escape. The wing nuts serve to place an upper limit to the vertical movement of the insert. This is supposed to encourage the uncooked dough to expand up the sides during the final baking phase to form the shape of the end product. This, however, may be a rather haphazard means of producing the final dimension of the end product. For example, the initial partly formed cone may be torn apart during the final baking as the uncooked dough is forced up the sides. This continuous movement during the cooking process may result in the formation of various cracks, fissures and other open seams in the bread.
Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide a more uniform and consistent food container having a substantially seamless cavity (or cavities), and having less cracks and fissures. Accordingly, the present disclosure is related to a more efficient, yet simpler apparatus and method for creating edible food containers out of bread.